A slightly different vacation planning!

Who would have ever thought that we would have to learn to do without almost everything! No family, no friends, no kindergarten, no team sports, no almost self-evident vacation abroad! And (especially the first two things) if at all, then only with the obligatory minimum distance of 1.5-2 meters!

So our Welsh annual vacation 2020 was simply cancelled due to Covid-19! However, spontaneously we found a nice campsite on the Baltic Sea island of Usedom! We had never been there before, it is supposed to be beautiful, so we did it!But despite the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic with constantly changing guidelines, questionable test requirements, and extreme job insecurity, we could not and did not want to postpone our longing for distance and the desire to show Ida the world for another year!So we took out the Atlas and checked what else Europe has to offer! Wales again was not an option for us this year, as we would have gone to the island during the main holiday season of the British Kingdom!And we simply would not have been able to bear so much initially white, then fiery red skin all at once! Looking back, it was the right decision anyway, as GB has been called a "virus variant area" since mid-June!
So the idea came up to take a closer look at Slovenia! A country that is considered the gateway to the Balkans; framed by Italy, Austria, Hungary, and Croatia, with its two million inhabitants not bigger than Hesse, but with an impressively diverse landscape, the green environmental capital of Europe 2019 - Ljubljana - and as of July 1st, holding the presidency of the EU Council! The latter is of course only of limited relevance to our decision to spend the summer of 2021 in Slovenia, but it sounds more progressive than one would first assume!
Unless... yes... unless there is still this Sword of Damocles of the Covid-19 pandemic hanging over all of us, which even complicates the planning of a visit to the swimming pool (at least)! Is a three-week vacation trip not a bit adventurous and naive?! Yes, in principle it is! But against the background of low infection rates in both our own and the destination country, and the reassuring feeling of double vaccination, we dare to go over the Alps to the land of dragons and caves! More on this will follow...So on Friday afternoon, with anticipation and without frustration and complaints, we started the final loading of the car!I don't know if it's the currently regular game of "My City" with Julia and Masl or the now already 11 years of apprenticeship with Tetrismeister Hase... one doesn't know!In any case, this packing was my master's examination, and it was passed with flying colors!

Everything fit, nothing had to be left behind, and not a word of freaking out was uttered! Fabulous...

With a night-time stopover at Mari and Gab in Munich, we continued early in the morning on Saturday through Austria, Italy, and the Predil Pass to Slovenia, to the truly impressive and beautiful Soča Valley in the Julian Alps, with the turquoise blue and crystal clear river, the Soča!

With Ida's help, we had already identified a nice, albeit fairly large campsite directly on the river as our first destination!After our arrival at Camping Soča, we were actually able to celebrate a world premiere for ourselves! For the first time in the fourth attempt, we were able to set up and equip our tent without rain, storm, or any other wetness. And so, without any hurry and without water in our shoes, we were able to calmly and leisurely set up our shelter!

An amazing and unfamiliar feeling...

After a necessary grocery shopping, where we had to realize with a little dismay that Slovenia, or at least the tourist town of Bovec, is anything but cheap, we made a first sniffing visit to the Soča!

At home, I had boasted that we could do without Ida's waders since it would certainly be warm enough, but the river showed us that I, or rather we, were completely wrong! Holy Hammerhead, the water was cold! It was simply not possible to stand with our feet in the water for more than 10 seconds!

We tried to emphasize the health aspect and see it as extreme Kneipp therapy, but even that was extremely difficult!

At least we were not the only softies who decided to forgo the fun of swimming in the icy river.

Here, by the way, a brief digression about the campsite itself! The place is fantastically located in the middle of the towering Julian Alps on all sides and nestles, as already mentioned, against the riverbed of the Soča. You can reach it via a pedestrian suspension bridge, which sways like a crab fisherman in the Bering Sea with every movement! Well, almost... at least I think so... surely, anyway!

The sanitary facilities seem to be almost new, but they are definitely extremely well-maintained and clean! At first glance, the owner also appears to be humorous and friendly! After all, he shares Ida's birthday, which he happily told us!After our polar experience, we all felt like having dinner, and although we had set up the interior completely and had also bought plenty of groceries, we still lacked something essential: We simply didn't feel like cooking anymore...So we spontaneously went to the local bar for pizza and grapefruit shandy. If you have something like that on the campsite, it must be tested! And after a well-deserved shower and the typical German grumbling about neighbors' kids being too loud, we ended the evening in our new camping beds! Tomorrow, due to rather cloudy weather, we are planning our first hike in the mountains! Let's hope for a calm and restful night!